This Invention relates to removably mounted, portable, aircraft-based wing or fuselage mounted, integrated pod stores and constant tension line conditioners, for air to air refueling systems, and submarine or ship based towed arrays, refueling lines or other towed decoy assemblies.
Fixed wing aircraft typical of the Boeing 707 aircraft employed by the Canadian Armed Forces, or Brazilian Air Force, or the Lockheed-Martin MC-130 employed by the U.S. Air Force, for the purpose of undertaking aerial refueling missions have typically used axial arrayed hose and drum reel configurations typical of the MK 32 refueling pod manufactured by the Sargent Fletcher Corporation of California, which depend on a hydraulic drive system to extend and retract the refueling hose and drogue assembly. This hydraulic methodology has been cited by the U.S. Air Force in document HQ ACC/DRS, 17-20 as xe2x80x9cunreliablexe2x80x9d, and further the entire FR-300 pod system was noted as having a Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) of only 49 hours, in U.S. Air Force document HQ ACC/DRS, 19.
Further in the white paper published by Major Tracy W. Colburn in March of 1997, entitled xe2x80x9cRunning On Empty: The Development Of Helicopter Aerial refueling And Implications For Future USAF Combat Rescue Capabilitiesxe2x80x9d, prepared for the U.S. Air Force Air Command And Staff College, document reference AI/ACSC/0412/97-03, Major Tracy cited several instances where helicopter rescue, and training missions were compromised because of inoperable refueling equipment.
In the area of aerodynamics existing refueling pods are also larger, primarily due to the drum reel assemblies they must incorporate within the pod housing, thereby possessing greater weight and wetted surface area, and inducing greater drag. Also the configuration of the existing MK-32 pod results in the creation of a large orifice on the underside of the pod which projects aft towards the rear of the pod with resulting localized adverse aerodynamic turbulence. Even the Flight Refueling MK-32B75 pod with its reduced cross section and superior aerodynamics over the FR-300 pod suffers from mechanical tension retraction and drum type reel systems which are more prone to failure resulting in a lower MTBF.
Further, problems also exist in the limited length of the hose which can be carried in existing aerial refueling pods without adding to the aforementioned, configuration, aerodynamic, and associated drag problems. Short hoses inhibit the range of the receiving aircraft relative to the fuel delivery aircraft, as strong vortices exist in localized turbulence pockets thereby restricting the speed, position, or simultaneous refueling of two aircraft by a single fuel delivery aircraft Shorter hose lengths of approximately 70 feet are now the normal length in use, and under various circumstances, and relative to new emerging refueling aircraft like the Boeing KS 767 existing pods and their reduced hose lengths, would be limiting, if not impossible to use.
Another area of design difficulty in aerial refueling, is when undergoing refueling, the fuel receiving aircraft equipped with male probe, will periodically charge or advance forward towards the fuel delivering aircraft equipped with the hose and rogue assembly, in a manner which is faster than the hose can be manually or mechanically retracted. When the line is left slack, considerable problems related to hose aerodynamics may result, making the hose unstable and potentially dangerous to the both the delivery and receiving aircraft.
Hence various mechanical methods constituting prior art, have been designed by Sargent Fletcher, and Flight Refueling Of England, which can sense the slack in the refueling hose when it is charged by the receiving aircraft, and retract the hose to maintain constant tension on the hose and drogue assembly. Existing refueling pods suffer a weight penalty, and higher incidence of equipment failure due to the tension retraction and other mechanical assemblies used to maintain a constant tension on the hose and drogue assembly by a receiving aircraft.
In other applications typical of tugboats, support vessels for tethered underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV""s) or other surface combatant ships engaged in ship to ship refueling, mine sweeping, or anti-submarine warfare, the towing of barges, marine de-mining sled assemblies, or towed sonar arrays, particularly in rough seas, creates difficulties when one vessel is moving faster than the other, or closes the distance laterally to the other vessel, as in the case of ship to ship refueling, or are affected by large waves creating cyclic or periodic snap loading of the towing cable, refueling line, or support lines for support vessels and ROV""s.
Currently, prior art, and practices for resolving the aforementioned aerial refueling, and marine based towing, support, or refueling, special mission work systems problems, are inadequate, unreliable, non existent, or expensive, resulting in decreased aircraft performance, decreased safety margins, unacceptable line, cable, or hose oscillation, unacceptable aerial refueling hose lengths, and otherwise inhibit mission readiness.
Accordingly there is a continuing unaddressed need for a lightweight, low profile, low aerodynamic drag, reliable refueling pod, with a simple lightweight methodology for stowing longer lengths of refueling hose, and a line, cable or hose constant tension system with few mechanical parts and a high degree of reliability.
The present invention solves, the aforementioned problems associated with bulky, heavy, air refueling drum reel configurations with a block and tackle pulley arrangement to achieve less mass, which results in reduced pod cross section, reduced weight due to fewer mechanical components, reduced wetted surface area for cleaner, aerodynamics, and an aft located deployment aperture resulting in less drag and fewer vortices affecting the hose and drogue assembly.
The present invention also uses, a novel charged gas cylinder instead of mechanically actuated retraction means to maintain constant tension on the hose assembly when the drogue is pushed forward by the receiving aircraft. This same methodology for maintaining constant tension is also applicable to the ship or submarine based towing, ROV support, de-mining, and anti-submarine warfare towed sonar array application problems cited in the aforementioned xe2x80x9cBackground of the Inventionxe2x80x9d section material.
The preferred embodiment of the current invention solves the aforementioned dedicated weight, aerodynamic, reliability, constant tension, and other aforementioned issues by meeting the following objectives;
Objective Onexe2x80x94Create a low profile, aerodynamically smooth aerial refueling pod.
Objective Twoxe2x80x94Reduce the weight of existing pod based aerial refueling systems.
Objective Threexe2x80x94Reduce the number of components and Inherent mean time before failure (MTBF), in existing refueling pods by achieving a simple, yet redundant system of components.
Objective Fourxe2x80x94Devise a method of carrying more hose length, without compromising the first three objectives.
Objective Fivexe2x80x94Create a new reeling system, which will permit the achievement of objectives one, two, and three.
Objective Sixxe2x80x94Create a simpler lighter, less bulky constant tension line or hose conditioning system which also facilitates xe2x80x9cObjective Onexe2x80x9d and is universal enough in principle to address other terrestrial, or marine based applications for the resolution of snap loading issues.
The foregoing objectives are achieved by the preferred embodiment of the present invention which undertakes the integration of novel technologies, and assemblies, which would be recognized as enabling to those skilled in the art of air to air refueling, towed ECM decoys, towed targets, marine towing, or ROV support, without inducing weight, drag, size, reliability, or singular application penalties upon the user. The preceding six objectives, are achieved by the following three sets of components and assemblies;
1) a temporarily mounted, symmetrical, constant diameter, low profile aerial refueling pod equipped with female drogue, hose, and deployment, retraction assembly, and indicator lighting system,
2) a block and tackle reeling system arrayed longitudinally within the pod to provide more hose, with less cross section, and fewer parts, with less weight than conventional reeling systems,
3) A constant tension line conditioning system which uses a charged gas cylinder, instead of mechanical or electrical retraction and extension means.
The integration of the foregoing systems, embodied within one refueling pod or as separate components of the present Invention, achieve the foregoing objectives, and provide portability, and adaptability for use aboard multiple aircraft platforms.